


I'll Be Better For You

by cold_nights_summer_days



Series: Star-verse [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Prompt 26, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Whumptober 2019, abandoned, tony is bad at making decisions, until he isnt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 09:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_nights_summer_days/pseuds/cold_nights_summer_days
Summary: Tony Stark had no idea what to do when Mary Parker showed up on his doorstep with a baby and a question. He just hopes he'll make the right decision.





	I'll Be Better For You

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE: If you are reading this fic on any platform other than the Archive, such as any of the app store/google play apps that are only accesible behind a paywall, this work is available for free on archiveofourown.com. 
> 
> Hello!!!! If you've read my other works, welcome back, and if you're new hello hello hello! I've been trying to post this for what feels like whatever but I keep getting distracted because I'm watching Gilmore Girls . . . its just so amazing! But anyway, thank you for deciding to read this! This is the official beginning of the Star-verse, which is just a collection of stories that take place in the same timeline as my other series (Stardust) that don't necessarily fit that description. And without further adieu, enjoy the story!
> 
> P.S. this was supposed to be for whumptober but I didn't have the heart to make it any sadder . . . but I'm still going to count it for the abandonment prompt anyway.

Tony stumbled through the front door, barely managing to close it before dragging himself to the kitchen. There he looked for the ibuprofen that was (conveniently) kept next to the bar. Another scotch did sound nice . . . _Don’t. You’ve already had too much and there’s an important meeting tomorrow. _

After filling a glass with water, he knocked back three pills. Even still, tomorrows hangover would be a fucking bitch. With that in mind he decided to take the bottle upstairs with him. Future Tony would definitely thank him for that. It wouldn’t make up for how much future Tony would hate him for drinking tonight, but that was another battle.

Tony considered sleeping on the couch instead of braving the stairs, ultimately deciding against it because he most definitely did not want a sore back on top of a hangover and obligations. Pepper would only listen to so much complaining before (rightly) telling him to can it and focus on the job at hand. He probably wouldn’t be able to function without Pepper. Or Rhodey for that matter. And Happy.

_Can’t believe they stick around even after all the shit I put them through_. Tony thought, making a mental note to do something nice for them.

It felt like ages before Tony made to his bed. Why did time slow down when you were drunk? Or was it just you slowing down because you were drunk? Either way, he was drunk, and time did slow down. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.

_Chirping birds are officially the most annoying sound ever_, Tony thought, pulling an extra pillow over his ears to block the sound. The pillow managed to muffle the worst of the noise, but soon enough the sound of someone knocking on the door joined the birdsong. The only four people who would ever visit him would never knock on the door, opting to use the keys Tony had made for them all years ago. It saved time when Tony didn’t have JARVIS running the house and allowed him to keep working instead of coming to let people in all the time.

The knocking persisted despite Tony’s best efforts to ignore it and bury his head deeper into the pillow. “Who the hell is that, JARVIS?” Tony grumbled, throwing the pillow across the room in defeat. He would be adding soundproof headphones to the work list

“I don’t know. I don’t have her in my system.” JARVIS replied dutifully.

“What does she look like?”

“Average height with shorter black hair. She also appears to be carrying something, though I don’t have a good enough angle to determine what.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar, then again, most of them don’t. Don’t suppose she’ll go away if I don’t answer the door, do you?”

“No, sir.”

Tony mumbled a string of curses as he got up, the morning light harsh against his eyes. There was nothing he would rather do less than open the door for (presumably) one of his one-night-stands at eight in the morning on a Tuesday. Not only that, but the birds seemed louder than ever now.

“Give me a sec, can you?” Tony complained, ready to explode when he finally opened the door. He caught the woman mid-knock with a surprised expression.

“Mr. Stark . . . I wasn’t sure that you would answer,” She said finally, her voice much softer than Tony’s when he replied.

“And yet you kept trying.” He said sharply. The woman flinched ever so slightly, pulling the bundle she was holding tighter against her. A look almost like regret passed over her features.

“Maybe this wasn’t the right decision. Thank you for your time and I hope you have a wonderful day.”

“No, wait,” Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. Pepper was right. He did need to work on his social skills. “What do you need? Did you forget something here, or . . . ?”

“Not exactly. My name is Mary Fitzpatrick. We met at a convention in Switzerland almost ten months ago. I have an important question for you.”

The name didn’t ring a bell. Although to be fair, Tony wouldn’t remember anything from that convention if you hit him over the head with it. “I don’t remember much from that weekend—”

Mary laughed but it sounded strained. “Me neither. We both got plastered. But,” She paused before saying her next words and Tony could tell that she was gauging whether it was a good idea to say them or not. She took a deep breath and forced out the words, “He’s yours.”

Tony stared at her full of confusion. “What?”

Mary nodded to the now forgotten bundle in her arms. “Him. Peter. His name is Peter.”

“What? I’m sorry—I don’t—I don’t understand.” Tony stared at Mary and Peter dumbly, at a complete loss of words. Mary didn’t seem frustrated with his confusion, however. Maybe she had been prepared for this.

“Peter is yours.”

Tony shook his head, but he felt the dots connecting in his head. We met almost ten months ago in Switzerland. Maybe Peter wasn’t actually his, though. People tried this shit all the time. Almost as if she sensed the thoughts in his mind, Mary told Tony that she expected he’d like to perform a paternity test. Tony agreed numbly.

“There’s something else, too. I want you to take him.”

He was shocked out of his stupor with those words. Not only might (but maybe not) Peter be his, but Mary wants him to _take him_? Had she been keeping up with the news recently? Did she know anything about him at all? Anything about his father at all?

She couldn’t be serious.

“You can’t be serious.” Tony said, mind running a mile a minute. He couldn’t take care of a kid. A baby. “Why come all the way out here to tell me this?”

“Because I want you to see him before you make a decision. Its not fair to him for you to hide behind your computers and lawyers and pretend he doesn’t exist. I don’t know if this will affect your choice or not, but if you don’t take him, I don’t have another choice except to place him in the system.”

“System?”

“The foster system. Richard—my fiancée—doesn’t want to keep him, and besides, we both work for SHIELD. Our lifestyles aren’t conducive to raising a child. We didn’t think it was right not to give you a chance.”

“I—I need time to think about this.” Tony stammered. Taking in a child was a huge decision. He could hardly be blamed for not making the decision instantly. With a hangover on his doorstep, no less.

“I’m in town for two more days. I’m sorry for setting such a short deadline, but I’ll be going out on assignment on Friday.” Mary said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a business card. “Here’s my number, and I’ll be staying at the Marriott on third street.”

And with that, she left, leaving Tony standing flabbergasted on the porch. Numbly he went back inside and closed the door behind him before sliding onto the floor. What the hell was he going to do now?

Tony called Rhodey, Pepper, Happy, and Obadiah ten minutes after Mary left. His mind swirled with a million thoughts, some relevant but most useless. Now he sat at the dining room table surrounded by the people he hoped would help him make an impossible decision. Logically he knew he couldn’t take care of a kid (fuck, he couldn’t take care of _himself_) but he still found that he couldn’t say no.

For a minute the four stared at Tony wordlessly, each trying to think of what to say. In the end it was Tony who spoke first, voicing the deepest of his worries. “I don’t want to ruin him. Peter, I mean.”

Pepper gave a soft smile. “I don’t think you would ruin him, Mr. Stark. I think you would do fine, well, even, if you decided to keep him.”

“I agree with Pepper,” Rhodey chimed in. Obadiah stayed silent, but Tony knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing he always thought when these sorts of things came up. “If you make the choice to take care of him I know you’ll do just fine.”

“I don’t want to do ‘just fine’ though. I don’t want to turn out like Howard. I can’t. Because then that kid will be just as fucked as me, and that isn’t fair. Mary must be off her rocker, asking me to take care of a kid.”

“—your kid, not just a kid.” Pepper reminded him. Tentatively, of course. They sent for a DNA test at once, but they couldn’t be sure until it came back.

“Which we don’t know for sure,” Obadiah said finally. “I don’t think you should take him in, Tony. You’re hardly in a good place right now. Between the drinking and the drugs, would you ever be sober enough when he needs you?” Obadiah’s words were a harsh slap from reality. He was right, though nobody at the table wanted to admit it.

“I would be better. I would have to be, right?”

“Yeah, Tones. I don’t know what else to tell you, but if you decide to take him, we’ll be here to help you. You know that.”

Tony wanted to bang his head on the table. The hangover headache was still haunting him, a reminder that he most definitely should not take Peter. A voice in the back of his head disagreed with him, though. He can’t end up in the foster system so early in life. It’ll be over before it really begins.

Either choice was a huge risk._ What if I turn out like Howard? What if I ruin him? What if, what if, what if? _

Mary was staying in room 610. Tony knew that because he called the number on the card yesterday evening, hours after everyone else had left. He was still no closer to a decision than he had been on the porch, but he thought that he should meet Peter before making a choice. Properly meet him, because yesterday surely didn’t count. He hadn’t even seen the kid’s face.

The elevator ride was shorter than Tony would have liked. He tried to hide his identity by dressing down and wearing dark sunglasses, but he still heard the telltale snaps of a camera on his walk from the parking garage to the hotel itself. Damn paparazzi. That was another thing to think about. Was it fair to force the kid into fame so early? Tony remembered hating going anywhere with his father for that very reason. Maybe that had to do with the fact that Howard used him like a trophy in public.

Tony decided he wouldn’t do that to Peter._ Hey look at that. I’m making choices. Now if I could just make one that mattered._

Mary opened the door on the first knock, making Tony feel guilty for making her wait yesterday. She quickly motioned for him to come inside. “Peter’s asleep right now,” She whispered, “But you can still see him if you’d like to.”

Tony nodded and took in the small hotel room. Both beds looked freshly made, though one was covered in all sorts of things for a baby. There were blankets, outfits, toys, and a car seat. On the far side of the room there was a travel crib set up, presumably where Peter was sleeping. The scene was overwhelmingly domestic.

_This could be us._ Thought the little voice from yesterday. Tony had always thought he didn’t want this, but that wasn’t entirely true. He did want it. He was only afraid of messing it up.

“He’s over there. If you don’t mind, I’d love to take a quick shower while he’s still asleep. I don’t want to leave him completely alone yet.” Mary said. Tony didn’t even have a chance to answer before she was in the bathroom with the water running. He glanced around the room before walking over to the crib. It took several moments to psych himself up for it, but he peered over the edge at the impossibly tiny child inside of it.

“Hey Peter,” Tony greeted, voice impossibly soft. Peter didn’t respond of course, but that was okay. Tony might have been freaked out if he did, quite honestly. Instead he studied the small child, taking in every detail like it was his last chance. Peter slept peacefully as he did so, breathing softly. He already had a head full of light brown curls, much like pictures Tony had seen of himself as a baby.

“Maybe you really are mine,” He mused. The little voice in the back of his mind agreed. “Would you want to live with me? I know I’m sort of a mess, but I’ll be better. I’ll try harder.”

Peter’s little eyes blinked open, revealing chocolate brown irises. He didn’t move or fuss, only stared widely up at Tony. And damn the DNA test, in that moment, Tony knew that Peter was his. That’s what the results would say. Peter Stark had a nice ring to it.

“Yeah. I’ll be better. For you.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed the story don't forget to leave kudos and comments! Follow me on tumblr (unfathomable-universe) and Instagram (@cold.nights.summer.days) for updates on my stories and projects!
> 
> Until next time, have a lovely day/night! Love you all lots!


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